TOP5_DefinedTalent

Did you know the average person spends 92,000 hours or one-third of a lifetime at work?

That statement only reinforces the importance of this week's podcast topic, the Top5 Tips For Finding the Right Professional Environment.

Jennifer Barker, a digital strategy and thought leader, business development professional, educator, mentor and solutions expert, sits down with Tara Thurber to discuss the importance of working in a professional environment that's right for you.

In Jen's own words, the right environment should, "Light you up more than you already are now."

Having extensive experience in a myriad of industries, Jen shares her professional journey, her views on current industry trends and her Top5 tips.

Jennifer Barker's Bio:

Jennifer Barker is a digital strategy leader, business development professional, digital thought leader, educator, mentor and solutions expert. She equates digital marketing to a puzzle. Once the pieces are found, she puts together a strategy that creates a full picture focused on results through holistic tactics.

Throughout her career, she has worked for non-profits, agencies, and companies which have afforded her the opportunity to work with clients in the retail, pharma, finance, biotech, fashion, hospitality, technology, SaaS, HR, non-profit and manufacturing industries, as well as with Fortune 1000 companies. 

Jennifer entered the tech world when the monumental shift from traditional to digital marketing was beginning. The growth in new technology during this time allowed her to explore, learn, test, and implement new tactics that once were intangible while teaching her the importance of agility. Jennifer equates digital marketing to a puzzle; once the pieces are found, she develops a strategy that creates a full picture focused on results through holistic tactics.

Jennifer’s career path led her to two major cities before planting her roots at the Jersey Shore. This, in conjunction with professional mentorship, community involvement, and life experience attributes to her success in the marketing industry. She believes her growth and accomplishments did not come from a classroom or job, but from living in cities engulfed with creativity, art, and culture, and surrounding herself with people that challenge and inspire her on a daily basis.

Jennifer finds the most fulfilment inspiring and empowering others in her industry by educating and sharing her knowledge about current and future digital trends and tactics via speaking engagements, presentations, technology panels, mentorships, and teaching workshops.

DefinedTalent's Top5 podcast presents. a conversation about grief in the workplace. Our guests, Daniela Herrera of RG/A, Kelly Parrotto, Talent Acquisition/Management Specialist and Dana Fahey, Talent Consultant/Professional Coach, share their experience with grief. 

Since grief comes in stages, often it is not fully addressed in a professional environment. Currently, grief is even more difficult to understand if you work in a hybrid for a fully remote environment.

 Grief is an important topic. We all experience loss. Loss of loved ones, loss of pets, loss of friends – grief comes in multiple formats at any time in our life. According to Healthline, there are 5 main types of grief:

1. Anticipatory grief – When you know a loss is coming
2. Inhibited grief – When you suppress your emotional grief
3. Absent grief – Forms when a person is in denial
4. Delayed grief – Comes after a loss (weeks, months, even years)
5. Disenfranchised grief – A grief that society does not recognize (i.e. the loss of a pet)

Listen to the full podcast to hear more!

Today we discuss the trending topic of imposter syndrome - when an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.

84% of people have identified as having imposter syndrome.

Catherine Tsavalas of Tech Elevator joins Tara Thurber and Ellie Bright to discuss the five main types of imposter syndrome and her Top5 Ways to Beat Imposter Syndrome.

If you have ever felt like you don't belong, you're not good enough, you're not worthy or you don't deserve success, please give this one a listen! 

Top5 Ways to Beat Imposter Syndrome

1. Find Your Community
2. Fake It Till You Make It
3. Go on a Fact-Finding Mission
4. Identify What You Can & Can’t Control
5. Document How Awesome You Are

*Catherine Tsavalas is the NYC Metro Market Leader for Tech Elevator, a coding and career prep bootcamp in Jersey City, where she connects hiring and community partners with job-ready junior software developers. She previously spent 10 years leading entrepreneurship programming and consulting, helping startup founders launch and scale their marketing, operations, and hiring.

"I've learned that it's not selfish to take care of yourself," said Jackie Kazar, our most recent podcast guest. The wife, mother of two, teacher, event planner and fitness guru shares her story with Tara Thurber while encouraging the audience to live life to its fullest. 

Jackie's Top5 Tips to Become Your Healthiest Self

1) Personal Development
2) Eat Healthy
3) Exercise
4) Shift Your Mindset
5) Make yourself a priority

**Jackie Kazar is a wife, mother to Greyson (4) and Blake (6 months) currently living and loving life on the Jersey Shore. She is in her 7th year of teaching 3rd grade and owns Blank Slate Events, an event planning company. Recently, she decided to combine her passion for teaching and love of health and fitness and established herself as an online health and wellness coach.**

See more about Jackie:
Instagram/Facebook: @keepingupwiththekazars @blankslate_events

Karen Ann Bulluck, founder of Transcendence: Living A Life of Meaning, a boutique executive coaching practice, helps Tara Thurber ring in 2023 with blank slate! 

The topic of conversation is risk taking.  We want everyone to ask themselves what risks are you going to take this year? What kind of magic are you going to make?

If you are not fully satisfied and living up to your fullest potential, this is a podcast to help steer you in the right direction!

"Acknowledge where you are, and what the truth is. You don't have to judge it as good or bad. You can say, 'Okay, I'm not happy, I'm not satisfied in this.' That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just a signpost, right? It's just a guide to tell you, where you may need to take charge and make changes in your life."

**Karen Ann Bulluck
 Transcendence: Leading a Live of Meaning

Karen Ann Bulluck is the founder of Transcendence: Living A Life of Meaning, a boutique executive coaching practice.  Karen partners with leaders to EXPLORE what matters, INTEGRATE the Higher Self, and FLOURISH in new dimensions. She is the creator of the Transcendence proprietary methodology: “Living A Life of Meaning”, a transformative framework and integrative lessons derived from years of practical application and experience.

Karen was the first woman promoted to Executive Vice President at AM Best Company, the premier international insurance rating agency and information provider. Her career was marked by rapid promotions and many cross-disciplinary changes. She specialized in bringing innovation and change to struggling departments: upgrading technology, redefining processes, and aligning the right staff with the right jobs. 

Karen earned a Master of Science in Organization Leadership with honors from Regis University, Denver CO, her professional coaching certification from iPEC, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. She has immersed herself in the study of the world’s wisdom traditions and leadership models.

She is the author of the novel Ascending Ladders, which follows an IT executive through a transformational change in her leadership. Karen is also a contributing author to the international bestselling books: Significant Women: Leaders Reveal What Matters Most, The X-Factor: The Spiritual Secrets Behind Successful Executives & Entrepreneurs, and Ennobling Business for Success: Ignite-Inspire-Influence. 

Karen can be reached at:
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.livingalifeofmeaning.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karenannbulluck
Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenannbulluck

Join Tara Thurber and Ellie Bright as they discuss the hot topic of pay transparency with Founder and Principal of Talent Masters, Tsveta Semova. 

Tsveta offers tips for companies looking to adopt pay transparency policies due to and ahead of regulated laws. 

Currently, CO, CA, Maryland, Washington State, RI, NV, CT and NY are required to proactively disclose pay to applicants and employees.  5% of the US population is covered by these laws (86 million Americans). 

Tune in to hear Tsveta's tips for positive ways to adopt pay transparency at your company!

*Prior to launching Talent Masters, Tsveta held a number of senior roles in the global recruitment, education and social impact spaces. At Shorelight, one of the leading companies in international higher education, Tsveta led the company’s Global Sales and Marketing Enablement efforts.  While at Educatius Group, she was the Vice President of Business Development, Partnerships and Human Resources for Educatius North America, and helped the company sustain and grow its footprint as a global leader in international education.  As Senior Director of National Recruitment and Admissions Strategy at Education Pioneers, Tsveta played a key leadership role at this prominent US educational non-profit organization aimed at bringing change to the US K-12 education sector by putting transformative leaders in key non-teaching positions. Tsveta directed the team responsible for recruiting, selecting, and converting over 6000 diverse professionals to accept over 600 fellowship slots.  Earlier in her career, Tsveta spent 8 years at the Council of International Educational Exchange in several roles where she led teams and managed programs aimed at enhancing public diplomacy through intercultural and educational exchanges.

Tsveta is passionate about developing human talent, social impact and education, and volunteers her time to support these causes. She resides outside of Boston with her family and likes to read, travel, meet with friends and (in true connector and recruiter fashion) talk to everyone everywhere about everything. 

Join us this week for a special brand new episode of Top5!

Tara Thurber is joined by two extraordinary women who discuss and offer tips for working mothers. Marilyn Schlossbach and Amy Quinn are pillars in their community, mothers of young children and successful businesswomen. 

Together, the women discuss self-care, how the pandemic affected their personal and professional lives and how they rely on their local "villages" to help share the responsibilities of motherhood.

Marilyn Schlossbach transcends the boundaries of the kitchen as an entrepreneur, mother and active citizen spearheading social and environmental initiatives.  She owns The Marilyn Group which consists of multiple restaurants in Monmouth County (including Langosta Lounge, Pop's Garage, The Asbury Park Yacht Club and White Chapel Projects), a successful a catering business and additional projects including a gourmet chocolate, Two River Mushroom, LLC. and Oshin Oil.  Her work goes beyond her restaurants, advocating for sustainable agriculture, accessible culinary/hospitality training and dining destinations that help underserved communities flourish. This is exemplified in her not-for-profit, Food For Thought By The Sea. Together with her husband Scott, she is a parent to two 10-year-old twin girls,  Hari Mar and Rubi Dee. 

Amy Quinn (she/her) has been on Asbury Park's city council since 2013 and has been deputy mayor since 2015.  In her time in office she has been a tireless advocate for the arts to help Asbury Park shine as an arts and culture destination. Additionally, Amy is an attorney for the Community Health Law Project in Eatontown, NJ. The Law Project assists the disabled poor with their legal matters. Through negotiation, litigation, and advocacy, she combats discrimination, protect rights and preserves independence and quality of life. Her real claim to fame is that she was one of the first members of the LGBT+ community to get legally married to a same-sex partner in New Jersey, at 12:01 AM on October 21, 2013 on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. With her wife, Heather, Amy is a parent to their 9-year-old son, Jensen. 

Allison Cheston joins Tara Thurber and Ellie Bright from DefinedTalent to discuss their experiences with neurodiversity (displaying or characterized by autistic or other neurologically atypical patterns of thought or behavior) and mental health challenges.

Together, the women discuss examples and provide suggestions for neurodiverse individuals (ADHA, autism, dyslexia, anxiety) to overcome challenges during the interview process.

Allison provides her Top5 Interview Tips for Neurodiverse Candidates including extensive interview preparation, reviewing interviewers on LinkedIn, familiarizing yourself with the company mission and website and preparing for questions like, "Tell me about yourself."

**Allison Cheston has spent the past 16 years advising executives and young adults as they navigate the course of their careers. Employing a marketing framework and a deep course of inquiry, Allison helps clients define their long-term goals and framework for success, translating disparate ideas into a powerful narrative that grounds them as they venture forth into new careers, new businesses, and new life plans. She helps them identify their unique value in the marketplace and their right direction, provides the tools they need to promote themselves effectively, either internally at their current organization or with prospective employers or partners, and then helps them pivot to the next phase.

Prior to founding her practice in 2005, Allison was Chief Marketing Officer of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), the global trade group for the executive search industry. She spent 15 years in account management and new business development for branding and design agencies, ultimately helping create and lead a network of agencies in North America, Europe and Brazil. After that she co-founded and built DesignScout.com, an early-entry marketing platform connecting branding and design firms with corporate clients. 

 In 2016 Allison created and piloted a career curriculum for Trilogy Education Services, a startup recently acquired by 2U, that provides web development and data science boot camps at universities around the country.  

A frequent speaker and writer on career development, Allison has blogged about career issues for young adults at her own blog, CareerConnector, since 2008, and has been a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, BBC, FoxNews, Business Insider, and HerMoney.com, to name a few.  

A graduate of the University of Michigan with a BA in International Relations and Romance Languages, Allison holds an MA in International Education and a Certificate in Adult Career Planning, both from New York University. She is Myers-Briggs certified, and speaks French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. 

Our special guest, Beth Ricca has 20+ years of career development experience in higher education. As Executive Director for Career Development at Monmouth University she sets the strategic direction and delivery of career initiatives to support undergraduate and graduate students and Monmouth’s growing alumni network.

Beth is a Monmouth County native, lifelong NY Rangers hockey fan and enjoys the beach and reading, especially when she can relax while reading on the beach!

Beth & Tara talk all things career development as Beth shares her Top 5 Ways for Students to Utilize the Career Center at Monmouth University.

Beth states, "For students to meet with their advisors, ask questions and take advantage of their environment is really one of the keys to being successful."

Listen to the full podcast for great insights for current and future college students!

**The Monmouth University Career Development team provides essential resources and programs to prepare students for a lifetime of professional success.